Draymond Green Picks LeBron James, Lakers to Upset Ja Morant, Grizzlies in Playoffs

Provided they're able to take care of the Sacramento Kings in the first round, the Golden State Warriors will play the winner of the Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers series in the conference semifinals.

That isn't stopping Draymond Green from providing "bulletin board material."

The Warriors forward picked the Lakers to advance on the latest episode of his podcast.

"I think the Lakers will take this series. I think it'll be an upset," Green said (21-minute mark). "It won't be easy—it will not be easy—but I think the Lakers may take this series, just because they'll understand [the situation] and slow it down.

"... I think they'll be able to capitalize on some of the mistakes [by the Grizzlies]. It'll also be interesting to see if the Grizzlies have grown. We remember some of the mistakes they were making in the playoffs last year, especially in that Minnesota series. Minnesota was making mistakes and giving the games right back, but we'll see if they have grown. If they've grown, it's going to be very tough on the Lakers, and my opinion will be wrong."

This should come as little surprise to anyone who has followed Green's public comments of late. He has been consistently complimentary of LeBron James, a fellow Klutch Sports client, while sparring in a back-and-forth with Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks.

In any way bias may play a factor in Green's thoughts, it's pretty obvious which way he would lean.

That said, Green tends to be pretty objective with his opinions in all facets and has plenty of basketball reasons to believe the Lakers can pull off the upset. The Lakers were one of the NBA's hottest teams down the stretch of the regular season and even managed to navigate a weeks-long absence from James, who has been dealing with a foot injury.

By contrast, the Grizzlies have been embroiled in turmoil of late—mostly caused by the on-court actions of Brooks and off-court actions of Ja Morant. The Grizzlies All-Star recently served an eight-game suspension after posting video of himself flashing a gun inside of a strip club.